The Palestinian village of Taybeh, one of the few remaining Christian villages in Israel, holds fast to its memory of Jesus seeking refuge there shortly before his Crucifixion. The Gospel of John says that Jesus went to Taybeh, then called Ephraim, after he raised Lazarus to life and the Jewish authorities planned to put Jesus to death (John 11:54).

Taybeh has been identified as the site of Ophrah, a town of Benjamin, which was later renamed Ephraim.  However, the word “Ophrah” was close in sound to “afrit” meaning “demon” in Arabic. Under Saladin, the name was changed to “Taybeh”, “The goodly”.

Visiting the village, one can view its ancient and modern churches and visit the world famous brewery.  The Taybeh Brewery was established by two brothers in 1995. Taybeh has developed a local reputation among beer connoisseurs from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv.